I slowly descended the foot-stool and then wiped my face on the burlap sleeve. It was scratchy but it did the job. It was time for me to learn just what had happened to this poor child to get us to this point. 

One of the hardest parts of being of the Entropic Realm is the knowledge barrier. Unlike the other realms where one can train their bodies and talents like a muscle by either expanding their output in the case of an Arcane Innate or expanding the amount of power they can channel in the case of Divine Innate’s, for an Entropic Innate it is much more difficult as they have no inherent powers and are limited by the energy of others or by what they have access to. In theory, they should be one of the easiest and fastest-growing Realms as the limit is more about knowledge rather than raw power however due to the stigmatised nature and rarity finding a reliable or clear way to learn said knowledge is next to impossible and so most are forced to rely on their awakened ability or simply learn through experimentation. Many Entropic Innate’s sadly harmed themselves or in some cases perish during said experimentation due to just how volatile it can be. 

For me, however, I have forgotten more about the Entropic Realm than most would ever hope to learn in their lifetime. 

I moved the footstool over to the sleeping man and lifted myself, onto his chair. This will probably have him waking with a feeling reminiscent of a hangover but with the things he has been through it probably won’t even register and my curiosity is far too high to leave it unchecked. I gently placed my hand on the back of the man’s head and closed my eyes briefly to concentrate. I could feel the electrical currents moving through his brain and nervous system, the power of the blood coursing through his veins and the traces of mana swirling within him. It had been far too long since I had the joy of these feelings. I let out a faint sigh of happiness only to shoot my eyes open to be sure I hadn’t accidentally woken the man. He continued sleeping. 

I tugged carefully on the three pieces of energy being sure not to draw from any one of them too much and began to cast the illusion, projecting it out of the man’s forehead. The language may be foreign to me but all I had to do now was scroll through his memories chronologically. 

I could see him carrying me through the woods, I scrolled further and saw him swimming in the frozen river, pulling me from it. Scrolling further still I found The woman from the photos, the man and myself atop an old stone bridge covered in snow. Across from us were several brutish looking thugs blocking the way with two more behind us. The biggest, ugliest looking one in the middle stepped forward and began walking towards us, my father stepped in front of my mother and me only to be punched in the face and knocked to one knee. The ugly thug grabbed my mother’s arm in one hand and grabbed mine in the other lifting me from the ground. He and the other thugs laughed and spouted something in the unknown language. My father stood to his feet and attempted to wrestle the ugly thug only to be kicked in the stomach and back to the snow-covered ground. The ugly thug licked my mother’s face who squeamishly tried to hold back her tears. He said something to my father and before I could register my small body was flung off the bridge into the frozen river below. My father was filled with terror and anger and he and my mother shared a knowing look. She nodded to him and mouthed a single word. My father rapidly got to his feet and darted past the ugly thug, diving into the frozen river after me. 

I let go of my father’s head and shook with rage.